Co-op Program Presentation for Hudson Valley Tech Meetup

We’ve had our eye on the Hudson Valley Tech Meetup and what they’ve been up to for awhile and we were waiting for an opportunity to get involved. Charlie Graham from Volum8, who is the organizer of the Orange County chapter of the program invited us to speak at last week’s meetup featuring “Tech for all Ages.”

SUNY Orange hosted the meetup in Kaplan Hall, the view of the Hudson river was beautiful.

We were impressed with the entire meetup overall. There were a lot of very interested, active participants and presenters. There are a lot of unique programs going on in the Hudson Valley that we were happy to learn about from the other speakers.

SUNY Orange instructor Mark Carrenceja covered college with his presentation on SUNY Orange’s New Media Program and how students use social media to build a strong learning community.

GeekHive’s PMO David Campbell and Tech Director Kevin Varley spoke about beyond (once you enter the workforce), with our Co-op presentation highlighting how to get real-world experience while in school and how that transitions to full-time work afterward.

Given the theme – tech for all ages, we thought discussing our Co-op program would be a valuable experience to share with other local businesses who may be interested in setting up similar programs. Co-op is short for cooperative education, it’s a program that allows college students to come work for you full-time for a period of 3-6 months earning both credits and experience. These are paid opportunities and can lead to full-time employment upon graduation.

Watch the full presentation:

We’ve interviewed our Co-ops several times in the past, but in this presentation, we dove deep into how the program was started and the nitty gritty details of how it works, plus pro-tips for other businesses and potential Co-ops.